Preparing for Preschool

September brings the end of lazy days, relaxed routines, and spending countless hours outdoors! September brings forth set schedules, appointments, and the constant rush, rush, rush to fit everything into our kids waking hours.

It’s Back to School season and here is a great article with some tips to help us to get back into the season and keep the lines of communication open with your child.

  http://thehighlyeffectiveteacher.com/essential-back-to-school-tips-for-parents/

Your child’s first school experience is the first step in your child’s life long adventure of learning so you want to make it as positive as possible.  Remember it is a big transition for you also so preparing together will help ease this new step for both of you.  

By using these eight tips you may ease some of the anxiety. 

1.     Take your child to visit the school they will be attending.  Meet the teacher, see the classroom and visit the playground

2.     Read stories about going to school.

q  Spot Goes to School by Eric Hill

q  Chu's First Day of School by Neil Gaiman

q  Preschool Hooray by Linda Leopold Strauss

q  Llama llama misses mama by Anna Dewdrey

q  The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/blogs/scholastic-parents-raise-reader/get-ready-first-day-preschool-picture-books

3.     Partner with your child’s teachers.  She will be a great resource and you can fill her in on some of your child’s favorite activities that she can have available to help ease transitions.

4.     Use pretend play where your take turns being the teacher.

5.     Make a special shopping trip to let your child pick out their lunch box, back pack or a school supply. 

6.     Send in a photo of Mom and Dad that the child can look at during the day if he or she is missing you.

7.     When the time comes to drop your child off you can plan a goodbye routine, a special hug or song but be strong and resist the back and forth rescue as that will only make your child anxious by feeling your unsure about this first experience. 

8.     At the end of a long day, you want to know what your child has been doing! Asking your child “What did you do today” might be met with “Nothing” or “I don’t know”, no matter the age of the child.   It’s important to keep communication open so your child feels comfortable talking about all aspects of their day, whether they have been good or challenging. Here are some tips to help extract aspects of your child’s day and keeping the doors of communication open.

Ask questions that require more than a yes or no answer:  Instead of asking, “Did you have a good day?” try asking a question that requires more than a yes or a no like, “Who did you play with today?” “What was your favorite activity today?”. Be prepared to answer the same questions from your child too! After all, they wonder what it is you do when they aren’t around!